Phrag. besseae repot

I decided to do something about new growth that was hanging out of the pot here.
According to advice from forum members, I needed to find wide and shallow container for it to fit long rhizome. At first I wanted to use plastic food container, but it looked too "foodsy", so I browsed through storage departments and came across see-through drawer organizers.
They look like glass but are actually hard plastic, so drilling holes at the bottom was very easy:



Here is how it works for my besseae with new growth. Unfortunately I broke off the very old fan, so there are two remaining:



Top up with sphagnum moss to prevent fast drying of the media:

Phrag. besseae

Phrag besseae finished blooming and I cut off the spike. Now, I think it is busy growing a new fan.
I have no problem with it, but what is up with such hanging out of the pot?



I mean, at some point new fan will start growing roots, where those roots would go?

Phragmipediums update

So, one month passed since my initial "phragmipediums assessment", now it is time to see how they are doing.

Phrag. besseae is still blooming, roots are growing. Small green nub of the new shot is now much larger and starts to hang out of the pot:



Phrag. Eric Young is still blooming too.
New growth on the front fan is developing well:



Two new fans on the back growth are growing nicely:



One of the formations on the old middle fans got a green point and most likely will become yet one more new fan:



And here is the best part. Month ago no green root points were visible in the Eric Young pot, now there it is:



All in all I think they passed the test and seem to be staying. To celebrate this "graduation" of my test phrags I went to Ecuagenera website and pre-ordered three more hybrids: Hanne Popow, Fritz Schomburg and Eumelia Arias...

New phrags, what is going on.

I had my new phrags for couple weeks now. One of them bloomed, other is growing a bud. I really like besseae and its hybrids so I want to keep an eye on these two "test plants" to see if they will progress or decline and decide if I want to buy more when the shipping season restarts.
So, here are my observations.

Phrag besseae has one old growth which does nothing and one new growth which currently blooms. Through the walls of clear pot I can see quite a few nice green roots with growing points:



Blooming fan also started new rooots at the base:



And there is a green nub of the new fan coming out:



Phrag. Eric Young has four fans: two in the middle are old previously bloomed fans, two others - one in the front and one on the back are new. This plant didn't have any green roots with fresh growing point, all roots were brown but firm and not mushy.
New fan at the front currently grows a bud:



It also has started new root at the base and a new fan:



Back fan didn't spike yet but it is busy, two new green nubs poked out and one of them already has tiny leaves. Although direction of the growth is somewhat strange:



Two old growths have some white formations at the base too, but they don't look like the green new fan starts yet, so I am not sure what will come out of them, if anything:



All in all both plants look happy in the tank. I water them every day with rain water and keep their pots in the saucers with rain water which I change every day too.
Let's see their status in a month...

Phrag. besseae blooms

I was holding my breath because at some point it seemed that bud on my new besseae was becoming limp and might actually wilt.
But it didn't.
Instead it opened a beautiful flower:



The spike is quite thin and started to bend a lot under the weight of the open flower, so I had to use the stake and ugly green clip to support the spike:



What a lovely bloom. I definitely want more of these...

New phrags

This is something I always wanted but didn't dare because of dry conditions in the house. Now with tanks I decided to try.
So, here is Phrag besseae :



It came from John Marcotte at Orchids Canada. The plant is just perfect: immaculate leaves, nice healthy roots and a spike! We'll see if it will bloom or drop.

The second plant is a hybrid between besseae and longifolium - Phrag. Eric Young:



I got it at the show in Montreal. The foliage on it is not perfect and has some damages, so normally I wouldn't buy such plant but three reasons made me do it anyway:
1. it has a spike;
2. damaged are old leaves, there are 4 fans,
one new growth:



and each of the mature growths has a small green nub which I hope will become a new fan:



So, even though it does not look all that nice now, I think it has a potential.
3. it was really cheap.

I put them into the larger tank: